About the Workforce Development Board

What are Workforce Development Boards (WDBs)?

Workforce Development Boards are local partnerships of private and public sector participants that will provide coordinated planning, policy guidance and oversight for all workforce readiness programs in their designated area.

How were WDBs established?

Workforce Development Board is established under the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act of 2014.

Prior to 2014, Workforce Investment Boards were established by Executive Order 36, signed on May 12, 1995, which stated that current county and multi-county Private Industry Councils (PICs), in cooperation with their chief elected officials, were to develop plans to be transformed into Workforce Investment Boards (WIBS). The WIBs would then assume additional responsibilities as listed in the executive order as well as others to be established by the SETC. Subsequently, Workforce Investment Boards were authorized by federal legislation: the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

Why were WDBs established?

Policy makers understood the need for local boards to look at all of the workforce readiness issues within their labor market areas, and recommend policies to improve the systems and quality of the workforce. The purpose of WDBs is to coordinate existing federal, state and local workforce readiness policies and programs into a single labor market driven system that can deliver needed services in the most cost effective manner.

How are members of the WDBs chosen?

The chief elected official(s) of each county, with full consideration of the needs of the municipalities they represent, appoints WDB members for staggered three-year terms. In multi-county WDBs, each county has full representation.

Who can be a member of a WDB?

The membership composition of a WDB is mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) policy guidance.

The membership of the WDB includes:

Private Sector (Majority of membership)

Community-Based Organizations & Organized Labor (minimum 15%)

A County Economic Development Agency

Abbott School Superintendent

Adult Education or Literacy

County Superintendent of Vocational/Technical Schools

County Superintendent of Schools

County Board of Social Services

Director of Local or Regional Employment Services Manager

President of the Community College

Chair of Human Services Advisory Council

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services

One-Stop Career Center Administrator

Representative from Literacy and Adult Education Programs

What is the organizational structure of a WDB?

The organizational structure varies from one WDB to another, but it is based on the requirement to fulfill their planning and workforce policy making obligations in the following areas:

Leadership/Planning: developing policy recommendations for the overall strategic workforce plan and ensuring continuity of the WDB’s mission in all areas.

Economic Development: work closely with city, county and state economic development agencies, as well as business leadership, to develop policy recommendations which will coordinate and strengthen all economic development in the WDB area.

Labor Market Information Exchange: identify information available, identify information that is needed but not readily available, and develop a methodology to obtain the additional information, disseminate information to users of the system and develop profile of current and future workforce skill needs.

School-to-Work Opportunities: develop an effective School-to-Work Opportunities system which serves all students in the WDB area using strong business leadership for guidance.

One-Stop Career Centers: develop a strategy for the implementation of the One-Stop Career Center system, bringing all of the participants together at the local level, and providing continual oversight and evaluation to ensure success of this system.

Marketing and Communications: Develop and implement a marketing strategy to clearly communicate the mission, goals and strategy of the WDB to the community at large.

Resource Analysis: review all publicly-funded programs with the ultimate goal of collecting and analyzing sufficient data to direct funding to systems and programs where they will most effectively serve the customers of the workforce readiness system.

Literacy: review all literacy programs and services in the area and make recommendations to better serve the customers.

How can someone who is not a WDB member help influence WDB decisions?

WDBs have been asked to reach out to the broader community for additional committee and sub-committee members, based on their structure. You can let the WDB Executive Director of your area know which of the above areas you are interested in. If the committee is already full, you may be able to offer your services to the committee in carrying its message to the broader community.

How does the work of the WDB relate to the State?

The WDB serves as a mechanism to communicate local priorities to responsible state and local governmental agencies to influence the allocation of workforce readiness resources. At the core of this system of shared authority is a partnership among the various levels of government, the public and private sectors and citizens. WDBs will produce a locally delivered workforce readiness system in concert with the State’s overall economic development strategy, with each of the existing partners contributing to the fullest.